Last Words
by Ironinkpen
Summary: Damn it all- he just doesn't want the last thing he says to her to be "we're breaking up". (Sorta connected one-shots following the story of Korra's amnesia and spirit world shenanigans.) Ch 4: To be fair, all the Avatars before her managed to majorly screw up, too. The only difference is that hers is gonna be a little more grand.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Damn it all- he just doesn't want the last thing he says to her to be "we're breaking up".

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Makorra

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Bolin is not smiling. Or pouting.

This vaguely worries Mako, because Bolin's default expressions are smiles and pouts, ones that invite complementary smiles and responding laughs and good times and general _happy_. Right now, though, his little brother looks really… old. The type of old Mako imagines he wore like a mask back when they were on the streets. The rough type of old.

He puts his case file down (Varrick's face smiles up at him and he resists the urge to punch something), biting back his comment on doing "important things"- he's been so busy and stressed that he just noticed how much of a jerk he's been lately. Even if his little brother's been going a bit crazy with fame, Bolin's things are just important as his. He doesn't know why he forgot that.

There's a beat of silence. Bolin's eyebrows are scrunched and he seems sad and tired. His eyes are rimmed with the slightest tint of pink. Tears.

"Bo?" He stands up from their little couch and crosses the room in quick strides. Bolin doesn't move from the doorway, but Mako can see the sadness fall away with every step he takes, patches of seriousness stitching themselves onto his brother's usually jovial features. He stops within arm's reach. Bolin lifts his chin.

"Mako… It's about Korra." The clarity in his eyes is so startling that Mako nearly shrinks back. This isn't a post-breakup speech or a relay of some rant Korra may have subjected Bolin to. This is serious. Something's wrong.

His tongue darts out to wet his suddenly chapped lips. "What happened?"

Something between the two of them shifts. Little Bolin becomes the big brother, if only for a few moments. "Korra was headed to the Fire Nation to get that help she wanted," He makes no accusations regarding his involvement in the President's interception of the troops, for which Mako is glad. "But, she… She ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" His heartbeat thrums in his chest. Bolin isn't smiling or pouting. This is serious, very serious, too serious. He saw Korra just the other day, yelling and angry and sad but perfectly_ fine_, otherwise. "Bolin, what kind of trouble?"

Bolin heaves a hoarse sigh, his throat probably raw from crying. He bites his lip. Mako licks his own. "She never made it to the Fire Nation. There was a spirit sighting in the direction she was headed in. Korra disappeared a week ago."

Mako's knees buckle out from under him and he doesn't notice Bolin's hand grabbing his arm and he doesn't notice Bolin leading him to the couch and he doesn't notice that he's shaking until his brother asks him if he's okay. But, he's not okay, of course not, so Bolin shuts up and sits and waits.

Mako gulps in air like a drowning man breaking surface. His chest burns. He feels terror paint his heart when he thinks of Amon, of Tarrlok, of Korra locked up. Then, he remembers nonsensical things, like how pretty she looks when she beats people up, and how her smile makes him want to kiss her over and over and over, and how she always has that one strand of hair she leaves out on purpose so he can brush it out of her face and she'll melt into his touch-

"_So, what? Are you breaking up with me?"_

"_Yeah… I guess I am."_

Bolin rubs circles into his shoulders and keeps him tethered to reality. Mako can't hear what he's saying, not really, but it's nice to know that someone's already done their crying so that he'll get the chance to. And he does. For a long time.

Bolin only smiles again when he gets up and starts babbling about a search party- because damn it of course that girl is alive she has to be she's Korra she's tough she's strong- and an apology, only a hundred sixty-eight hours overdue, but still an eternity too late.

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Please forgive me I'm emotionally compromised


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** She hates their last memory.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Makorra

* * *

She's on her way to the Fire Nation. Probably.

You know, she's not really clear on the details. She's in a boat, for sure, but she doesn't know diddlysquat about driving. She could be going in the right direction, or she could be headed to the Earth Kingdom.

She hopes not. The Earth Kingdom probably doesn't have ships.

Sea salt nips at her skin when she makes a sharp turn. Time to reevaluate direction. Follow the Avatar instincts, yeah? Best feeling is the gut feeling, after all.

The memory of a smooth, rumbling voice telling her that she's being stupid makes her grip the wheel with taut knuckles. Shut up. She's smart. She's strong. She can do things on her own, thank you very much, Mr. Know-It-All-

(_His eyebrows scrunch together in anger and his eyes cloud with potent, bottomless sadness_- What a horrible last memory. She hates it.)

Tears are only forgotten whispers on her cheeks, a testament to the growing sadness inside of her. But, she won't cry anymore. She really won't. She's stronger than that.

(Don't cry you idiot don't do it you're better than this)

She scrubs at her traitorous eyes viciously. She needs to help her family right now, not worry about her stupid boy- _ex_-boyfriend. It's so selfish, spirits, she's being so selfish. Her mother and father could be- no, no, no, not going there. Stop right now, Korra. Just think about the Fire Nation. Think about your duty, as Avatar. It's your job remember? You love your job!

(_It's all you have left_)

(No, shut up)

An image of Mako pops into her mind's eye again, unbidden. Him and his stupid eyebrows and stupid face and stupid smile that sends butterflies fluttering in her stomach and stupid voice that makes her melt-

_(Are you breaking up with me?)_

_(Yeah, I guess I am.)_

Stupid her for still being in love with him. Stupid her for wanting to make new memories, to erase the painful ones with happy ones filled with the sunshine of his presence. Stupid her for crying again. Stupid her for being the only one to ache all alone. Stupid her for already forgiving him.

Water shoots by her in a whip, and she veers out of the way on instinct. She looks back and it's not Mako. It's her cousins.

She jumps out when Eska hits the boat and sends it flipping and skipping like a stone across the ocean. She bends the water around her and it's familiar, unlike the foreign feeling of the fire coursing through her veins. Maybe she's not so ready to forgive yet.

Eska starts screaming about her 'stealing her fiancé', but Korra focuses on Desna- he's quieter, quicker, more deadly. She shoots away, but they follow. Her blood tells her she can't hurt her family, and her fingers refuse lethal strikes automatically. Ice whistles by her in a sheet. Obviously, though, her family has no problems hurting her.

All at once she feels that hopeless weakness creep up on her again. No. No, no no. She won't mope anymore. She's going to prove again, once and for all, that she's not weak. She doesn't mess things up. She. Is. Strong.

Just as she resolves to fight, her cousins stop. Only when she looks forward does she realize why.

The last thing she remembers is darkness, cold, and the yearning for a warm flame.

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**Edit:** Changed the chapter to align with the new canon

God the new episode killed me don't touch me


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Just as 'Korra' begins to taste right, her mouth whispers another name.

**Rating:** K+

**Pairing:** Ehhh

* * *

When she opens her eyes again, she sees… _something_. It shimmers in front of her and bids her a calm "Hello".

If she were in a better state of mind, she may have freaked out. But the sky is space and she's floating. She's past freaking out.

"Who are you?" She asks just as the shape begins to form something. Curves fuzzily connect to arms and legs, and someone who looks remarkably familiar appears.

The figure seems to smile. Its- _her_- voice is deeper than hers, smoother, as she speaks. "I am you."

Well, that's certainly new. So, she looks like this? She doesn't remember. "Who… am I?"

Her other self smiles again and disappears. A robed man takes appears, one she definitely knows. "You are the Avatar."

Another man, old and wrinkled. "Master of all four elements."

"Keeper of peace." A woman with a stern face masked in paint.

A Watertribe man, eyes sad. "Keeper of balance."

"Keeper of the beginning." A woman with a distinctive blue arrow on her head says, "And so, to the beginning you will go."

And Korra watches, sees, _feels_ as every Avatar that has ever existed appears before her, each with a different face, with a different heart, with a different life, but all with the same essence. For the first time, something within her tingles with a sense of belonging.

Hundreds of faces cycle before her before they finally stop. A man is before her now, one with a square jaw and dark, spiked hair. His grin is sloppy, as if it's about to tumble off his cheeks, but his eyes twinkle with knowing.

"Hello, Korra." He says, "It looks like you've got a problem."

Well, she obviously does, since the name Korra still doesn't seems to stick to her thoughts like it should. There's another name there, cluttering the shelf-space in her mind as if insisting to be attended to. She complies. "Are you… Raava?"

He tilts his head at her, and the space around her gets brighter and noisier. She hears voices and begins to see things and a warmth fills her chest that wasn't there before. "No." Her heart reaches out and her fingertips skim the edge of that elusive 'Korra'. She begins to feel like _her_, and it's a new feeling, as if even her old self didn't have the chance to be Korra too often. "But I can help you find her."

And then, just as she reaches to take hold of that self, she's ripped away and becomes someone _else_.

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I don't even know

Until I can get a hold of the original script for this episode, that's going to be dialogue yep

(In fact I may just leave it like that because why not)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** To be fair, all the Avatars before her managed to majorly screw up, too. The only difference is that hers is gonna be a little more grand.

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** Hostage situations do not include time for romance

* * *

Korra has learned over the past few days that she is not invincible. She has learned that the Avatars aren't invincible either and that, as a matter fact, most Avatars screw a lot of things up before they fix _anything_.

That makes her feel a little better about the decision she's facing. A little. Sorta.

Jinora, face slick with sweat, trembles in Unalaq's trap. The man- not her uncle, never her uncle because he is not family- holds her up in his waters and eats away at her soul deliberately, making his message clear. _You cross me_, his eyes say, _she dies_.

It is then that Korra realizes that Unalaq is, sane or not, crazy. He really thinks he's helping people, that he's above everyone else, that it's his responsibility to lead the world to a new era. He views himself as a protector, not a villain threatening the hero with the life of a child.

Korra knows that she cannot test fate when it comes to Unalaq. She's under his thumb now- has to listen to whatever he says. She will not risk Jinora.

"Korra, don't do it!" The girl, evidently reading her thoughts, cries. Korra smiles at her a little sadly and shakes her head. Avatars sometimes make things worse before they make things better, she reminds herself firmly. So, it's time to make things worse.

She walks slowly, deliberately, hands up and visible. Not that it matters- she has no bending anyway. But, still, it seems to appease Unalaq and his gang of dark spirits. He gestures with his chin.

"The portal. Open it."

Korra, heart pained, nods and keeps walking. She aches to think what will happen when she and Raava face Vaatu. What if she's not good enough?

Inexplicably, she thinks to her family and Tenzin's family. She thinks of her tribe and little Rohan who is still fresh and new to the world, a mind full of wonder and possibility. She thinks of other children just like him across the four nations, each with the opportunity to change the world if given the chance. She thinks of the older people, mentors, teachers, parents, each with their own lives and thoughts and ideas. She thinks of street rats like Bolin with the potential to be great. Little girls like Asami with big minds and ideas. She thinks of orphans like Mako with the poor lot in life and the will to keep living.

She looks at Jinora, who has sharp eyes and a yearning to learn, to grow, to create.

She thinks of what will happen to her- to all of them- if she fails. She decides that when the time comes she will have to be good enough.

Korra puts her palm to the Northern Portal and breathes. _Sometimes things get worse before they get better_.

And, hey, she's got the worse part down pat.

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Soooo I totally called Unalaq being the mother of all douchebags welp

ALSO IROH AND

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE GIRL"

KILL ME NOW


End file.
